''Almuth'' was a German

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...

which was built in 1937. She was requisitioned by the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She was used as a

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

under the

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

s ''M 1403'' and ''M 4414'', and later as the '' Vorpostenboot'' V 622 ''Almuth''. She struck a mine and sank in June 1944.

Description

The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of . She was assessed at , . She was powered by a

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

, which had 8 cylinders of diameter by stroke. The engine was built by Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG,

Köln Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was rated at 94 nhp. It drove a single screw propeller. It could propel the ship at .

History

''Almuth'' was built as

yard number The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.9 ...

117 by Schulte & Bruns,

Emden Emden () is an Independent city (Germany), independent town and seaport in Lower Saxony in the north-west of Germany and lies on the River Ems (river), Ems, close to the Germany–Netherlands border, Netherlands border. It is the main town in t ...

, Germany. She was launched on 5 May 1937 and completed on 8 July. She was owned by the Leerer Heringfischerei AG,

Leer Leer may refer to: * Leer, Lower Saxony, town in Germany ** Leer (district), containing the town in Lower Saxony, Germany ** Leer (Ostfriesland) railway station * Leer, South Sudan, town in South Sudan ** Leer County, an administrative division ...

. Her port of registry was Leer. She was allocated the Code Letters DGLA, and the fishing boat registration AL 36. On 11 September 1939, ''Almuth'' was requisitioned by the

, serving with 14 ''Minensuchflotille'' as the

M 1403. On 12 April 1942, she was reallocated to 44 ''Minensuchflotille'' and her pennant number was changed to M 4414. On 1 January 1943, she was designated as a '' vorpostenboot''. She was allocated to 6 ''Vorpostenflotille'' as V 622 ''Almuth''. On 5 June 1944, she struck a mine off

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...

Loire-Inférieure Loire-Atlantique (; Gallo: ''Louére-Atantique''; ; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', ) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population of 1,429,272 in ...

, France (). She was taken in tow but consequently sank.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mars 1937 ships Ships built in Emden Fishing vessels of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine Maritime incidents in June 1944 Shipwrecks in the Bay of Biscay Ships sunk by mines